The Five Star Squadron Dairanger Vol 1: The Five Stars
by kirinranger1
Summary: Reimagining of the the Dairanger Story with new characters, plot and settings. The ancient tribes of the Dai and the Gorma have been fighting for millennia and have now brought their battle into the modern era. Can five young warriors from different backgrounds work together to stop humanity from being subjugated?
1. Chapter 1: The Gorma

_Long Beach, CA_

_February 2, 1994_

_RMS Queen Mary_

The cool sea air blew gently through the upper decks of the Queen Mary, the smell of the salt air made some of the tourists a little nauseous while others felt that it made the experience of being on board a famous cruise ship more exciting, although the ship had not been active in the past 27 years. Though it was not hard to imagine what the ship was like during its heyday. The people who have been aboard the ship ranged from famous heroes of the 2nd World War like former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill who had helped draw up the plans to D-Day on board this ship; To some of Hollywood greatest actors and actress like Frank Sinatra, Bette Davis, Desi Arnaz and Lucille Ball.

Today, it was a hotel for those tourists who could not really afford to spend the money to take a cruise out into the Pacific or travel on the Queen's successor the QE 2 and take the voyage from New York or Southampton. In place of the luxurious rooms that once filled this giant hull were empty reminders of its heyday, offices and rooms were now either gutted or turned into small shops with the little trinkets that people would take as souvenirs of their time on board.

That didn't really matter to Colonel Shadam since he could care less about the history of this ship. Although he was enjoying the cool crisp breeze that was blowing through the deck, he personally felt that the Queen Mary was nothing more than a floating barge that should have been scuttled a long time ago. He sat alone on one of the deck chairs watching the people interacting with each other. He noticed the looks that people were giving him as they walked by; some of them thought that he might be some Japanese business man celebrating some kind of business deal he brokered. Others thought he might have been some movie star or something along those lines.

In reality, Shadam was the commander of a group called the Gorma. A tribe of humans that have lived for countless millennia in what modern man now calls China. In his time he was known for his brutality on the field but in more recent times he has been known by other names, Genghis Khan and Hideki Tojo were just two of his more familiar names. He lived through out time changing his appearance and involving himself in different wars, to help him improve his tactics to adapt to an ever changing world. He continued to watch the people looking at him and slightly envied how these people were so blind to what was going on around them, while the part of him that was a soldier felt like they were just cannon fodder. If he had a choice on how he could act he would choose neither and continue on his way, but unfortunately that was not on the agenda.

He moved his hand under his rugged face and rubbed it softly, looking out at the city but where some would have seen the beauty in the skyscrapers and the boats floating in the bay, he saw it as a battlefield and there was an enemy out there waiting for him. Yet, like all games of strategy all he could do was stay silent until his opponent made their move.

"It's sad isn't it?" Shadam said looking out at the city, "It's sad that these people are totally unaware of what's going on."

Another man, dressed in a leather jacket, black shirt, and leather pants stood silently behind Shadam, his resemblance reminded some of an Asian version of the Terminator, especially given the cold blank look that was on his face and the pair of Ray Ban sunglasses that he wore on his face. The man was known as Zydos, and considered to be the Colonel's 3rd in command.

"It is their own fault for ignoring what is around them." Zydos said looking out into nowhere, "Isn't that right, Gara?"

To the right of Zydos stood Lt. Colonel Gara, Shadam's 2nd in command. She playfully moved her hair from the front of her face, revealing her beautiful yet dangerous features that hid behind her brown eyes. She was an attractive young woman that was one of the fiercest soldiers that was ever known. She looked on at the city her own thoughts focused on something more distant than the musings of her commander, but was brought back to the present when she heard her name coming out of his mouth.

"I am just ready for the next move, it has been too long since I have fought." Gara said whispering into Shadam's ear.

"That is the difference between you and me." Shadam answered looking at the beer, "You look forward to the fight, while I would like to know what exactly our enemy is capable of."

"But these creatures can't be considered a real threat to us." Gara said, showing a hint of her own arrogance.

"That was what I thought when I fought against the Americans 50 years ago." Shadam started, "Granted these people are so barbaric that they still have petty wars; but when they come together when their nation is threatened."

"They are also the same people who corralled a group of people and put them into concentration camps just because they looked like their enemy." Gara retorted.

"Let's not forget that they were capable of creating a weapon that laid waste to two cities." Shadam said thinking back to the horrible destruction he saw at Hiroshima and Nagasaki; he could still see the people suffering from the wounds they received from the blast. "Humanity likes to think that they are so advanced and civilized when it comes to their society and technological advances when in fact they are still nothing more than the murderous animals that they have been since antiquity.

Let's take a long look at America, a land of people who escaped from Europe because of religious persecution, personal beliefs, and a chance at a new life. Yet when the locals helped the white person they were eventually repaid with death, famine, and relocated to land that was not even suitable for them. Or that these 'enlightened people' also sent people from Africa over in boats only to become slaves and brutally butchered them if they even thought of escape.

Even though these people fought for their freedom it took those same people over 80 years to abolish slavery; but they still had ways to control the people by dressing up in white sheets and burning crosses. These 'free' people still fight over the color of people's skin, property and sometimes even kill because of the type of shoes a person wears. These people may be strong but they are so full of contradictions."

"Yet you still have some sympathy for them?" Zydos asked wondering why his commander was talking like this.

"These people maybe nothing but animals." Shadam answered thoughtfully before he took a sip of a bottle of beer, letting the bitter after taste fill his mouth before he took a quick swallow and continued with his answer, "But there are those among them that do seem to want more than their barbaric urges. I've seen some things that are worth fighting for, but it is still not my place to question what I have been ordered to do."

"Nor is it mine, sir." Answered a young Japanese adolescent with a bowl shaped hair cut that stopped right above his eyebrows; his eyes were covered with a huge pair of eyeglasses that looked straight out of a manga. His outfit was even more outdated as he wore a Japanese school uniform from the 1940's. He nodded slowly in recognition and respect before he continued on towards Shadam and his companions.

"Dansaku." Gara answered looking at the young man, "It has been a very long time."

The young man Dansaku looked at Gara and answered, "That it has, but I was surprised when you asked me to come out here to America."

"The powers that be wanted to start the fight out here in the New World." Shadam said not paying Dansaku any mind, "A world that has not been touched by our hand, and I know that you have been waiting a long time for the chance to fight again."

"Yes, I have." Dansaku said looking out at the Downtown skyline, "Yet even I have my reservations about starting this fight here."

Shadam sat up from his chair and walked over towards the young man, eyeing him very carefully, "You know I could kill you for saying that to me; but I know you are just voicing a similar concern that I have as well. Just do your job and the sooner it is done, the sooner we can get out of this place."

Dansaku did not continue to ask more questions, but instead stood straight like a soldier standing at attention, "You will have my undying loyalty as always."

"Good." Shadam answered, "Then you know what you must do."


	2. Chapter 2: Warriors and Old Friends

_Long Beach, CA_

_Little Hong Kong- Tsai Chen Plaza_

_February 5, 1994 12:00 pm_

About two miles south of Downtown Long Beach is the Chinatown District, considered to be third largest in the world after Yokohama and San Francisco's Chinatowns. There was something unique about this particular district. Founded in the 1960's, "Little Hong Kong" as it was called by the local residents was considered to be one of the best places to find the latest items from Asia. Beneath the skyline of Downtown Long Beach stood rows of buildings stood above the 10,000 residents that resided in this growing borough.

Some of them were residential areas that looked like they had been around a lot longer than the 1960's. While some of the other shops and restaurants which catered to the tourists looked like they were built within the last 10 to 15 years. This was obvious by the way the Tsai Chen Plaza somewhat resembled Yaohan Plaza in Los Angeles' Little Tokyo District.

The three story building stood out among the smaller buildings and warehouse that surrounded it. Inside it held a Super 99 supermarket, a bookstore, and a couple of smaller shops on the first floor. The second floor consisted of the Tsai Chen department store which was known for bringing the latest fashions from Hong Kong, Seoul, and Tokyo; while the stores that resided on the second floor catered to everything ranging from wedding clothing, karaoke, and a video arcade.

Or Wang's China Buffett, at first glance reminded you of a Chinese McDonald's. Yet these things did not matter since a lot of people just enjoyed the food and the Far Eastern feel of the place. Sometimes when the door opens you can smell the food they serve which is a mixture of Chinese, Mongolian, Japanese, and Korean delicacies.

Of course there were those that even looked for remedies that Western Medicine could not help, but that was not what Mishelle Reynosa was looking for while she stood quietly on the corner of the street and took a long look at the area around her. What fascinated her was how all of this made her think of a time that was so long ago. Long before there were any cars, planes or any other conveniences of modern technology.

The tall young Latina felt the wind blowing through her long raven black hair as she buttoned up her red and black jacket which had the words "Lakewood High Lancers" stenciled on the back. Within a moment she found herself thinking some more about the early settlers that came over to the United States from the Mainland, wondering what it was like for them, was their plight similar to those Yaquis' that were hunted down by the Mexican Government back during the turn of the century?

All these questions raced through her mind while she let it drift even further past the last century to the time when China still had Feudal Lords, but what got her attention more than the feudal lords that she was thinking about was the statue of Fa Mulan standing in front of her posed like she was defending plaza in front of them. Mishelle always loved learning about the women who stood out in the annals of history: Joan of Arc, Helen of Troy, Cleopatra, and Susan B. Anthony.

However, it was the story of Fa Mulan that she enjoyed the most. Of how this young woman disguised herself as a man to enter the Imperial Army because her father was ill. She read somewhere that she eventually married one of her comrades in arms. Mishelle sighed longingly hoping that she could have had a chance to do the things like Mulan had in her time. Of course there was joining the U.S. Military, but she could not think of doing that since she was the eldest of three children and was determined to be the first in her family get into college.

Mishelle put those thoughts aside and slowly moved her head towards her left watching some of the locals' hustle and bustle about their everyday routine. She took a deep breath just help clear the cobwebs from her mind and looked towards the right at a red Suzuki Samurai that sat in a nearby parking lot.

Near the front of the vehicle stood two young women talking amongst themselves; the first woman was tall and voluptuous but very rigid which was noticeable in the way she stood against the car. The second woman was a little shorter than the first one but where the former was rigid in the way she acted; the latter was very excitable by the animated way she continued talking about the subject she was discussing.

The first woman fumbled with long brown hair, at first putting it up into a ponytail and then continued to fumble with the right front which covered part of her face, while the left was totally bare and shown her round but gentle face and jade green eyes. The look on her face was mixed with boredom and anticipation while she listened on, wishing that the topic would be over with soon.

"Lola, you just don't know when to shut up do you?" The first woman, Angela Steele sighed having enough of the second woman's conversation for the moment.

The second woman, Lola Ricci answered back, "What did I say that was so wrong?"

"You're bad mouthing someone who isn't here to defend himself!" Angela snapped back thinking that the whole conversation was ridiculous in the first place.

Mishelle shook her head and started to walk over towards the two young women arguing amongst themselves. She loved hanging around Angela and Lola but there were times that she felt that the arguing was a little too much.

"Will you stop it!" Mishelle snapped moving between her two friends, "There are times where you both just drive me crazy!"

Lola shrank down a little bit and looked up towards Mishelle, "I'm sorry Mish."

'Mish' as Lola called her waved her hand at Lola and then turned her attention towards Angela, "And you, why do you even let her bait you into those arguments?"

Angela rolled her eyes for a moment and looked the other way and walked towards the passenger side of the Samurai. She did not really care about where this conversation was going and was going to let her silence to be the end of it. Before she opened the door she heard the sound of a motorcycle pulling up to the plaza, she looked back and saw a gold streak pass by. At first she wanted to move away from the car and find out who was driving the motorcycle but stopped herself from moving on her suspicion. She noticed that Mishelle and Lola looking at her quizzically because of the way she was acting; but relented and opened the door to the car and sat quietly looking out at the window.

_Plaza parking level 4._

On the top of the parking complex Nancy Wong Fei Wu looked down at the group of women around the Suzuki Samurai. She stood there quietly not even caring about the weather or the small gusts of wind that blew through her white and violet DKNY windbreaker or the pink Cheongsam shirt that she wore underneath. Although she did feel relieved that she was wearing a pair of faded blue jeans instead of a full dress, which she felt would be out of place given that she was on an assignment.

Nancy noticed the way one of the women noticed the motorcycle that rushed into the parking lot and wondered why she would have done that. Her first reaction was that maybe the woman was a little startled by the vehicle but her gut told her that there was something more to it. She wished that she could have been close enough to hear what was being said but she continued to make some small observations in her mind so she could reference them later if she needed to.

"How long do we have to keep doing this, Tommy?" Nancy asked looking back at a blue and gold 1992 Kawasaki Ninja parked a few feet from her and noticed a young African American-Chinese man sitting down watching her move away from the parking lot wall towards him.

Tommy Xiao Li sat on top of the motorcycle calmly looking at Nancy underneath a pair of John Lennon glasses that rested on his semi hardened face that was slightly covered by his long wavy hair that flowed in the wind. His wardrobe however, was a lot different than his trendy counterpart. He wore a black Prussian student jacket which was a common item to wear among male Japanese students; underneath the jacket was his yellow jersey with blue along the collar and shoulders that he wore like some kind of badge of honor. What made his outfit look even more outlandish was the blue jeans and black Converse that he wore along with it.

"Well, we were told by Chin Mei that we were to observe them." Tommy (or Li as he was more known by) said as he fumbled with a blue and gold motorcycle helmet that rested near the handle bars of his motorcycle, "I don't like it either."

"You don't like it because one of them is someone you care about." Nancy answered seeing Li look the other way and continue to fumble with his helmet.

"There is that." Li whispered and looked back at Nancy, "But this is our job."

"Yeah, it is." Nancy nodded and patted Li on the shoulder, "Anyway, I saw the car heading north towards Downtown Long Beach, so let's get it over with."

Li picked up the helmet and placed it on top of his head before turning on the motorcycle and waited for Nancy to hop onto the back. He felt his bike shake slightly from her weight which followed by her putting on the spare helmet he kept for passengers and finally her wrapping her arms tightly against his waist and moving her body closer towards him.

"You know you like it when I do this." Nancy said over the small commlink that was attached to the helmet.

Li smiled underneath his helmet and said, "There will be time for that after we're done with this.

Nancy pouted a little bit and said, "You're just saying that because you know we are going after Angela. For the past couple of days it's been 'Angela this' and 'Angela that', Angela, Angela, Angela!"

"If I didn't know better, I think you were jealous." Li chuckled only to feel the hard slap of Nancy hitting the back of his helmet.

"Come on!" Nancy screamed trying to hide the fact, "They're leaving!"

Obeying the order that was given to him, Li launched his motorcycle from where he was parked and raced from the top level of the structure towards the next floor. He moved the bike past the speed bumps that littered each floor and continued down until he reached the street level and raced on towards Downtown Long Beach seeing the red Suzuki Samurai in the distance which carried their targets. Determined he raced through the rows of cars passing each of them with very little effort and managed to stop a couple of yards behind them, doing his best to keep his distance, wondering what was being said amongst the three young women.

_Inside the Samurai._

Mishelle kept her eye on the road in front of her, wishing that the traffic would go a little faster instead of having to pass the time waiting. She took a look through the mirrors to make sure there wasn't anyone coming or being dangerous behind her. That was one thing she did not need while she was already dealing with two people who had already argued about something stupid a few minutes ago. Instead she turned on the radio to 102.7 KIIS FM and listened to Rick Dees continue with the weekly top forty talking about the song "All For Love" still keeping its place at number one.

Mish had nothing against Bryan Adams, Rod Stewart, or Sting. It was just that she was honestly tired of having to hear that song over and over again. She honestly prayed that another song would knock it out of the charts soon. Yet it was a lot better than listening to Lola trying to sing like TLC's Left Eye Lopez in the back seat. She held her hands against the steering wheel, wishing that she could turn around and stuff the walkman down her throat, but she still decided that she should be the cooler head in this situation. Instead, it was Angela that decided to slap her friend on the knee to let her know that she was being too loud.

"You're being too damn loud!" Angela screamed making Lola jump in her seat, making the seatbelt constrict her.

"Dammit!" Lola screamed but was immediately stopped herself as she saw her friend staring her down with a cold glance.

Angela slowly turned her body back around facing front, she took a look up at the light turning green; feeling the car accelerate back towards the city. She exhaled quietly feeling a little pleased at the fact that they were moving once more, and looked towards the driver's side window seeing the RMS Queen Mary in the distance, resting peacefully in its dock. It had been a long time since she had been on the ship, and she didn't really like to go by herself unless she was with a certain person. Sometimes at night they would go to the starboard side of the ship and look out at the city lights and watch the shine or notice the people enjoying themselves at the Pike.

Angela slowly turned away from the sight of the ship and looked towards the passenger side window watching the hustle and bustle of the cars and people along the streets of Downtown Long Beach, still thinking about the argument that she had with Lola. At first she forgot about the whole thing, but the sight of the Queen Mary brought it all back to the surface.

The original argument consisted of the fact that she liked a young man that used to go out of his way to protect people and got his butt kicked in the process. Unfortunately, he moved to Japan for a couple of years with his family, but they kept in touch with letters until a few months ago when she received one stating that his mother was killed.

At first, she thought he was going to be coming back to the States, but the letters started to get a little sporadic and a little heartbreaking when he mentioned how alone he felt out there when after his Mother died. She still worried about her friend and though she would not admit it directly that she really did care about him.

Mishelle noticed Angela's silence and decided that it was time she said something, "You two got into an argument because she mentioned him, right?"

Angela didn't turn around but she softly said, "Yes."

Mishelle still kept her eyes on the road as they began to approach the entrance to the 710 freeway and continued her conversation, "Why do you still worry about him? From what you told me, the two of you never really went out."

"He saved my life." Angela said turning back towards Mish.

"From what I remember about that, wasn't it because he was getting into trouble?" Mishelle asked.

Angela chuckled to herself, "Yeah, but if he wasn't there in the first place I wouldn't be here to enjoy your company."

Mishelle nodded and asked, "Have you heard from him?"

"Not since that last letter." Angela answered looking down for a moment, "It doesn't surprise me though, not after what he had just gone through out there."

"Losing his mother and his girlfriend to some psychopath, followed by an attack on his High School; some people would have gone nuts."

"Yeah." Angela said as she continued to look out the passenger side window, when she noticed something that got her attention. A few cars behind the Samurai, was a blue and gold Kawasaki Ninja and its driver was wearing a helmet similar to the color of the bike. Her eyes widened at the sight of the motorcycle since she knew one person who would ride something like that. Quietly under her breath she whispered the name 'Li' while she kept her eye on the vehicle following behind.


	3. Chapter 3: The Lion Dreams

_Seal Beach. _

Nick Starr relaxed on the rocks of the shore, feeling the cold breeze of the ocean blowing behind him, ruffling his red hair and taking a moment to looking pensively at his surfboard lying right next to him. He had decided to come out here to see if the waves would help calm this ominous feeling that was gnawing at his stomach. Whatever was bothering him just kept him from going into the ocean and instead look at the Downtown skyline. He felt like there was something not right and he could not explain his feeling even if he wanted to, how could he explain to someone that he was having strange dreams about something that looked like the end of the world, and a young woman calling out for him. Even to him it sounded a little bizarre to believe; silently Nick collapsed and continued to look out at the waves crashing against the shore just wondering what was going on inside his head.

"You still are having trouble sleeping?" A young woman said from behind Nick. She stood there silently, dressed in a hooded sweatshirt that covered her face and said 'Lakewood High School Class of 1993' on the front and a pair of faded denim jeans, her did little to hide how attractive she was. In her left hand was a surfboard with the Japanese Kanji for 'heaven' written on the bottom. Slowly she walked over towards him and he immediately turned around to greet her.

"Amika!" Nick cried out looking at the young woman standing in front of him.

Amika Hayase was a friend of Nick's going back to his childhood when they used to live next door to each other. After high school, she moved out of the neighborhood and onto the dorms at Cal State Long Beach, but she still talked to him very frequently. She grabbed onto him tightly after she dropped her board while he felt the air slowly coming out of his lungs.

"I am surprised to see you here Ami." Nick said, "I thought you were doing something with your friends at the college?"

Amika released Nick from her hug and answered, "Yeah, but I was just looking to catch some waves instead."

"Bull…" Nick smiled, "You heard I was out here."

"Yeah, your mother told me that you were." She smiled, "I wanted to see you."

"What's going on?" Nick asked.

Amika walked over towards the rocks where Nick was originally sitting and sat down looking out towards Downtown Long Beach in the distance and sighed softly to herself. She took a look back towards her friend and wondered where she should really start with this conversation. Also she did noticed that it looked like there was something on his mind as well before she came over here to talk to him, she felt her heart beating underneath her sweatshirt and looked back out towards the city and took a deep breath.

"I don't really want to bother you with my problems." Amika half heartedly answered, "Especially when I see there is something bothering you."

"You can tell?" Nick asked as he saw Amika nod back in response, "Well if there was anyone besides my own mother who could tell something was wrong with me, it would be you."

Amika put her hand on Nick's shoulder and said, "Why don't you tell me."

"I don't even know where to begin." Nick sighed and looked back out towards the city.

"The beginning is always a nice place, you know." Amika sat down beside Nick, the expression on her face showed that she was more than ready to listen.

"I've been having these strange dreams lately and I have a hard time shaking them off." Nick started after taking a deep breath; his eyes still focused at Downtown and the _Queen Mary_, "A lot of times it is about death and destruction, almost like there is something bad about to begin."

Amika waited a moment to make sure Nick was finished before she answered, "It could be that you are dreading change, you are a senior this year and you will be graduating in a few months."

"I wish it was that simple." Nick continued, "There is a lot more to it, these dreams feel like they are some kind of foreboding; a preview of things to come."

"What do you mean?"

Nick's body stiffened the more he looked back into his dreams, "They started a few months ago, I had this bad dream that there was some kind of horrific accident that happened in this school on the other side of the world, I just thought it was because of some movie I saw that night. Until a couple of days later I heard about that big massacre at that school in Japan was all over the news."

"The Shin-Ju Massacre?" Amika asked when she saw that Nick closed his eyes to confirm her question.

"I continued to have even more weird dreams after that. Dreams about fighting and some dark force hell bent on taking out humanity, but I still shrugged it off until a few days ago when people were claiming to be attacked by some weird looking creature. That was when I knew my dreams were not dreams."

Amika took in what Nick had to say and that was when she felt a weird sensation envelope her body, it was not that she didn't believe him or rather she did. There was a lot more to it, something that she wanted to tell him and that was the reason she was here to see him in the first place.

"You are not the only one who has had these visions, Nick." Amika said softly, "I've been having dreams like this for a while now and I don't know why or what they mean, but they're almost like memories or something else."

"Memories?" Nick asked.

"I don't exactly how, but it's like I am someone else and I keep calling for someone to help me, but no one is there."

Nick prepared to open his mouth when he heard a little boy singing a song. At first he could not make out what was being sung, but he noticed that it had Amika's full attention and immediately she perked up and looked around to see where the song was coming from, she had recognized it as a famous Japanese song known as "Jun Renka or 'The Starting Over Love Song'". Yet the way that the boy was singing it gave her chills down her back while he took a look around, sensing something was not right about the situation at all.

_Suki Desu Suki Desu Kokoro kara, aishite imasuyoto, amai kotoba no urani ha hitori garashino samishisa ga atta…._

Nick's eyes narrowed knowing that something was not right about this whole situation. He turned around to see if he could spot anything out of the unusual and maybe hone in on where the singing was coming from, but he could not see anyone except him, Amika, and the other beachcombers that were walking along the shore; until he felt a sensation that made the hairs on the back of his neck stand up on end. From the corner of his eye he could see what appeared to be a brown and white tentacle heading towards the two of them; without much time to react he grabbed her and pushed her down to the sand with him as the tentacle went past them and crashed into a nearby restaurant.

"Nan de!" Amika screamed noticing the damage that just ensued in front of them.

Nick picked himself up and looked around to see if he could see where it went, but instead he saw a brownish blur heading towards him and sent him flying a couple of feet into the air and straight into a garbage dumpster. Slowly he picked himself up moaning in pain, but was immediately brought back to his senses as he heard Amika screaming for help; his heart raced knowing that he would never be able to forgive himself if something happened to her.

He looked down at his wrists and revealed two devices, on the right was a gray capsule shaped device with a small circle at the upper end of it, yet there was writing on the center of the device that said the phrase "Aurachanger" in bold print. On the left was a gold and black device that had a small slot on the left side which resembled a key hole of sorts. Immediately he pulled out the small circle which extended to a key shape and moved it into position of the second device.

"KIRYOKU TENSHIN AURACHANGER!" Nick screamed quickly moving the device into the slot, which immediately was followed by a green surge of light that engulfed his body and covered him in a suit of green type material, which was immediately followed by a pair of gloves, boots, and a white vest with a small circle with five distinct colors (Red in the center, with blue and green on the top and yellow and pink below) on one side and on the other side was all gold with a small line in the center which made it look like the letter 'D'. His face was immediately covered with a helmet which had a visor in the center and a design which resembled a Lion; at this moment he was known as the Shi-Shi Ranger.

Quickly, he jumped out of the dumpster and rushed back towards where Amika was being cornered by a group of people dressed in black tuxedo like clothing with white faces that had no eyes, but only red lips where the mouth was located. Underneath his helmet, Nick's eyes narrowed as he recognized the people immediately as a group of soldiers known only as Copotros; Foot soldiers that worked for the Gorma. Without even thinking about his next move, he rammed himself into the group of Copotros and pushed them back.

Three of the soldiers moved back and immediately began to charge forth towards Nick while he swung his left arm forward with all the strength he could muster at that moment into one hard hit. The punch impacted against the first Copotros and sent the creature reeling back towards a nearby railing while the other two continued to charge towards him. Immediately he moved out of the way and grabbed the one closest towards him and threw him into the furthest soldier. In the situation he saw that it was best to just keep the whole thing quick and painless as possible.

Shi-Shi Ranger turned back around towards Amika and asked, "Are you all right?"

Amika just smiled lightly and said, "This was not how I expected to spend my day."

"Neither was I…." Shi-Shi Ranger said but was interrupted by an object hitting him square in the chest and causing him to fall down to the ground limp like a ragdoll.

Amika rushed over towards the injured Shi-Shi Ranger and kneeled beside him trying to help him up, but he slowly struggled up from the ground and immediately collapsed again. She grabbed him again and felt a surge of information rush through her mind like someone changing the channel at super speed. Her eyes suddenly began to glow a light blue and she moved away from the injured warrior until she felt something grab her by the waist, and pull her away from him. She looked down and saw the tentacle was wrapped securely around her, without hesitation she curled her fists together and tried to knock herself free from her captor but there was no effect as she continued to be taken away from her green protector and into the large maw of another tentacle waiting for her.

The Shi-Shi Ranger stood up and looked around to see that Amika was gone, and immediately powered down to his normal clothing. He could hear the blood curdling scream of his friend being taken away by whatever had attacked them and clenched his fists tight until he could feel the blood trickle down his hand. Something was going on, and it looked like this was just the beginning of something big.

He looked at the Aura Spader that was on his left wrist and moved it towards his mouth and said, "Steve, do you read me?"

Through the speaker was the sound of a young man yawning and sounded like he had a pretty busy night, "What is it man? Do you know how long I was up trying to finish my damn report for the ROTC?! This had better be good."

"You know that thing that we might need to take care of?" Nick asked not really caring what Steve was up to.

"Yeah?" Steve said his voice sounded a little more aware.

"Well it's here." Nick said coolly, "The Gorma has made the first move and attacked Amika."

"Amika?!" Steve asked now totally surprised by what he was just being told, "Do you need me to come out to where you are?"

"No, I want you to get to where our two friends are and keep an eye on things." Nick said, "I have a feeling that things are about to get pretty intense around here."


	4. Chapter 4: Reunion

_Lakewood Mall. _

_Food Court 3:00 p.m._

The mood at the Mall was busy like any other Saturday afternoon; the hustle and bustle of customers walking in and out of the stores giving tribute to the all mighty dollar. On one end of the plaza, the smell of the various foods being cooked from the Food Court permeated part of the Mall while the teenagers from the local schools were hanging out in their usual cliques. The jocks were on the other end of the food court talking about their accomplishments on the field with their cheerleader girlfriends nearby whispering among themselves about how the starting players were outside of the field. Not too far away from them were the theatre students hanging out going over their lines for the latest production at the school while the Goths were doing their best to be opposite of the norm.

Nancy noticed the different groups of people and wondered what in the world did she get herself into by coming inside this place. She had seen American shopping centers portrayed on shows like Beverly Hills 90210 but this was nowhere near her expectations on what to expect. Not too far away from her she heard a group of students speaking in Mandarin about what they were going to do for Valentine's Day which only made her feel a little lonely. Even though she was sitting right across from the silent Li who was more focused on the job at hand than she expected him to be given the situation.

"You know if you keep staring in the direction that they went; you're just going to burn a hole in a store window." Nancy laughed.

Li smiled softly and said, "I just want to make sure they're all right."

"No, you just want to make sure Angela is all right." Nancy smirked, "Damn Xiao, if I did not know better I'd say she has you by the balls without even trying."

"It's not anything like that." Li said, "It's just I am trying to fulfill a promise I made a long time ago."

"You're still going on about that promise? Man, I just don't get why you made that promise with her in the first place." answered a young man dressed in a blue and white sports jumpsuit with the Lakewood NJROTC symbol on the grey T-shirt underneath. His neat kept hair and round glasses fit well on the kind face they belonged to, his name was Steven Hart, though Li just called him Steve. At one point he and Li were in the same class in Jr. High School; it was because of Steve's love of mechanics that led him to work on an old motorcycle that Li had. Eventually this led to them being close friends and Li's big sister Tonya hiring him in her small little bike garage off of Daisy Ave.

"It had to do with something that happened a long time ago." Li said ignoring his friend's remark as he continued to look around the shopping center, noticing Angela and her friends walking out of Miller's Outpost, "Anyway, what the hell are you doing here? I thought that you were trying to get some sleep?"

"I got a call from Nick." Steve answered; his tone became sharp, "It appears that they have made their move."

Nancy clasped her hands together while her face slowly contorted to show an almost malicious smile form across her face, "I was wondering when we would actually have a chance to bust some heads."

"How's Nick?" Li asked.

"They took Amika." Steve said.

Li looked a little concerned when he heard that, for him it was not surprising that the Gorma would attack someone like that so easily. He looked towards Nancy and Steve and said, "We got to act."

"We don't even know where they will strike next, plus we got to figure out where they took Amika." Nancy answered.

"That doesn't matter." Li said, "We just have to make sure that those three are not attacked."

Steve rolled his eyes and said, "You just want to save Angela from trouble."

Li took off his glasses and stared coolly at him, "I don't want to see more people die in a senseless way."

Nancy put her hand on Li, "What do you have in mind?"

_Miller's Outpost_

Mishelle nervously walked out of the fitting room dressed in a new pair of loose fitting Anchor Blue jeans that she was trying on. At first she nervously looked in the mirror at the way they looked on her, almost like one of the rappers she had seen on television, but she would have preferred to look more relaxed since she never was one to follow with the trends that almost everyone her age was trying to emulate. After she looked at herself with disdain; she slowly walked over towards the passage way where Angela was waiting while she looked for a shirt for her to wear while Lola just looked on at their friend, contemplating on what her answer should be.

"What do you think?" Mishelle asked seeing Angela shake her head no in disapproval.

Lola on the other hand was a little more direct, "You look like you're a Fly Girls reject."

Mishelle's face contorted to convey her dismay at her friend's remark, "You can be a real bitch sometimes."

Lola feigned a look of surprise and retorted, "You asked my opinion, don't get all upset with me if you don't like it."

"Whatever…" Mishelle said walking back towards the dressing room.

"Hey, did you guys hear about the strange attacks that the police have been reporting?" Lola tried to change the conversation.

"What kind of strange attacks?" Angela asked.

"Well there have been reports on the news that people have been disappearing all over Long Beach. The only thing that's left is their personal belongings."

"What is so strange about that?" Mishelle yelled from the nearby stall.

"The fact that there are no real signs of struggle or anything, the whole fact that their personal belongings are the only thing that is left has the police baffled." Lola said, "I think that there might be a killer on the loose attacking people and dragging them off in a van and leaving their remains off of International Waters."

Angela raised her eyebrow and took a long gaze at Lola, "You are sounding ridiculous. That is the last time I am ever having you come over and watch those damned slasher movies."

"What is so ridiculous about that?" Lola asked, "Look at Ted Bundy, he looked like a normal man, but in reality he was slashing up beautiful women and leaving them dead all over the country. Or what about John Wayne Gacy…"

"It figures that you would only get stranger as time goes by." Li answered from behind Lola.

Angela immediately froze in shock at the voice that was coming from behind her. At first she did not know what she should do; it had been a long time since she had seen Tommy Li, but there was no real way of expecting to see him in the mall of all places, specifically right now. She slowly turned around and took notice of the man that was standing there before her. She remembered him looking a little dorky in the way he dressed and acted, but there was something different about him and she could tell right away by how he dressed himself, he still looked like he was still living in Tokyo, right down to the way he styled his hair.

Li let a half hearted smile show on his face as he saw Angela Steele standing in front of him. He felt his heart racing slightly as he looked at her from underneath his glasses and stuttered, "It's been a long time."

Angela dropped all her pretenses and rushed up towards the stuttering Li, wrapping her arms around him smiling as she tightly held on to him, "I can't believe it's you."

Tommy tensed up when she grabbed a hold of him, it felt good to feel Angela hug him. It felt good to have some kind of physical contact from another person that did not mean that you would have to fight for your life. Slowly, he began to relax and smile to himself at least knowing that she was all right for the moment.

Lola rolled her eyes at the sight of her friend hugging him and took notice of the two people that were standing behind him, immediately she recognized Steve Hart and dismissed him but the young Asian woman got her full attention. She eyed the woman carefully watching her stand quietly while she noticed Li and Angela hugging for a little bit. Was this woman Li's girlfriend or relative? Why was she just standing there like a bodyguard? Too many questions went through her head and she didn't know where to begin except the one place she always liked to begin, antagonizing Tommy.

"You still look as dorky as ever, Li." Lola said pushing the two apart, "Since when did it look cool to look like a reject from a Hong Kong action flick?"

Li slowly turned back towards Lola and smirked, "Around the same time you made it look cool to be more masculine than most men."

"You no good son of a…" Lola started but was immediately stopped by Angela.

"Look, can we forego your usual digging into someone for just one moment?" Angela looked at Li for a moment, "I have to agree with Lola a little bit Thomas; you do look a lot different than you did a couple of years ago."

"Well living in Japan does that to someone." Li answered politely and took a look at Angela and her current look. He remembered her being a little tomboyish in her fashion sense but how she dressed now surprised him immensely but he chose not to comment on it right now since there were still other things on his mind.

Angela took notice of Nancy standing behind him and asked, "So are you going to introduce your friend back there?"

"Yes, this is Nancy Wu." Li answered, motioning to Nancy to move close so she could introduce herself to Angela and her friend.

"It's nice to finally put a face to the friend Xiao has told me so much about." Nancy smiled, extending her hand out for Angela to shake.

"What has he told you about me?" Angela asked while she shook the young woman's hand.

"He said that you were one of his closest friends out here and that's all, unless he was mistaken about it?" Nancy asked.

"No, not at all." Angela said.

Mishelle finally walked out of the fitting room with the jeans in her hand. She still felt a little upset that she really could not find a pair that she really wanted for herself. She took one more look at them and just left it back at the counter where the unwanted clothes were kept and immediately noticed Angela and Lola talking to Steve Hart and his two friends which one of them she recognized immediately at the wayward Tommy Xiao Li and he guessed that the other woman was a friend of his.

"Tommy Li." Mishelle said looking at Li who immediately stared at the woman calling out his name.

"Mish." Li answered smiling with respect, "It's good to see you again."

Li and Mishelle knew each other since elementary, back then she was what the students at school would consider the type of person who would not let anyone get hurt. Occasionally he was one of the people she would save and later berate for his actions. Yet she was one of the few friends that he knew would also be there if there was something wrong. She walked up to her old friend and hugged him and taking a long look at the way he looked compared to her last memory of him: A skinny looking kid with a ponytail, buttoned up short sleeve shirt and large lens glasses that made him look more like the type of person who would get beat up in an instant. Instead she saw a little bit of that child but there was something determined behind that façade.

"Will you ever call me by Mishelle?" She asked smiling at her old friend.

"Someday." Li answered and hugged Mishelle.

"So, Thomas." Angela said coyly her green eyes felt like they were staring straight through Li's soul, "How long have you been back in town?"

He answered, "About two days."

"And you didn't even leave me a message that you were coming to town?" Angela asked, her voice rising slightly showing that she was a little stunned that he had been here and not even given her fair notice that he was back in town.

Li looked nervous when he heard Angela's voice rise slightly; there one thing about her that really bothered him, and that was she sometimes had a temper that could become volatile in a matter of seconds, but he still kept his composure and told her, "It was unexpected."

"What do you mean unexpected?" She asked getting a little closer towards Li.

"It's a family matter." Li said being to the point.

Angela's voice lowered an octave and she asked, "Does this mean you will be going back to Tokyo when you are done here?"

Li couldn't look at her when she asked him that; but he answered quietly, "I don't know yet."

"Is that why you didn't tell me you were here?" She asked.

Li continued to look away and said, "I didn't want to get your hopes up."

Angela felt a little hurt when he told her that he wasn't sure how long he was going to be in town. She slowly looked back at him and answered back almost like her words were venom., "If it doesn't interfere with whatever it is you have to do; come over to my place and see me if before you leave."

"Angela, wait…" Li said but was stopped by the look of hurt in her eyes.

Angela brushed past Li and Nancy with Mishelle and Steve following her. Lola on the other hand took a look at him and said, "You have always been an asshole when it came to her; when will you realize that she worries about you?"

"I know she does." Li answered Lola in a way that he never talked to her before, "But I don't want to hurt her; she doesn't deserve that."

"You're hurting her with the things you say and do." Lola said and shook her head leaving Li with one more pearl of wisdom before she left to find her friend, "You should have stayed in Japan."

Nancy shook her head at Li and said, "She's right, you can be a real asshole sometimes."

Li turned back to his teammate and said, "So, you're gonna side with Lola on this?"

"Well, yeah!" Nancy started, "Look at what you did, we were supposed to keep an eye on them and you decided to let them run off."

"With Steve."

"Wi…." Nancy started but stopped when she heard Li's comment, "You planned it that way?"

"I am not as stupid as I look, huh?" Li said smugly.

"I wouldn't go that far." Nancy started, "I mean you wouldn't even look at the woman and you expected that to go well? I thought she was someone you cared about?"

"She is." Li said, "The further away she is from all of this, the better I will feel."

"_Sou Hai_." Nancy sighed, "Sometimes I even wonder how you and…"

Don't even finish that sentence." Li said coldly as Nancy stopped herself, "Don't even bring _her_ up."

Nancy took a moment and said, "Is that why you decided to be that way towards Angela?"

Li didn't say anything at first but instead of answering her question he just said, "Let's just do what we have to do."

Nancy let Li walk a few steps ahead of her while she just looked on at him with a hint of pity in her eyes. She had known Li for a few months since she ran into him in Japan and found out that he was a member of the Dai Tribe like she was; but where she had been willing to learn what she had been chosen to do; her partner was a little more driven by his reasons to fight. Especially when it came to protecting the people he cared about.

From what she was told by Li's friends in Tokyo; he was in love with a woman named Misato Komuro and she was killed in an incident that was known by the Japanese Press as the Shin-Ju Massacre. It was considered to be a horrific attack on a Japanese school as 50 people were killed when a mysterious assailant. The truth of that matter was a Gorma attacked his mother, followed by his girlfriend and the school. It was up to Li to be the one to confront it, he managed to repel the creature before it caused further harm; but he hasn't forgiven himself for what happened to his classmates or those close to him. Pushing away some and forcing himself to fight on.

She thought Li was being an idiot right now especially after the whole Angela ordeal; deep down she knew he was happy to see her but she thought that he could have at least handled it a little better than just play a coward and use that as a way for them to make sure she and the others would be all right. She walked out of the store and followed Li who was already heading in the direction that Steve and the others had left, wondering to herself if her friend would ever be normal.


	5. Chapter 5: The Battle has Begun

_The center of the Mall. _

Steve wondered what he was doing here, the last thing he wanted to do besides keep an eye on these people. He wasn't too fond of Angela, since she was his superior officer in the ROTC. Lola he thought was a little annoying at times even though he thought it was funny whenever she got on Li's nerves. Mishelle, on the other hand he thought was someone who was very cool and earned her reputation of being someone who would always do the right thing. As to his idea of following after his harebrained stunt went into action; he found some major flaws with it, but at the same time it was one way to keep an eye on the three of them at close range.

His involvement with Li, Nancy, and Nick began a few weeks ago when he ran into some strange looking creature that tried to make short work of him and Nick while they were testing some car he was working on in Santa Ana. Tommy's older sister, Tonya was also there when it all went down and she watched how the two of them managed to fight it off. That was when she revealed to them that they were chosen to be combat more like them. Since then there had not been that much action, until today. He still wondered about why they would have to watch over Mishelle, Lola, and as Steve called Angela, 'Commodore Crabby'.

Angela stopped in the center of the mall, standing still for a long time oblivious to the people or the band that was playing nearby her as she silently kept back her tears from at the way she had just ran into Li. It was not the reunion she hoped for, but she did not think that he would be such an ass.

"That was not how I wanted it to go." Angela said as Mishelle stopped beside her, "I did not want to walk out of there."

Mishelle took a deep breath and said, "Maybe he did not want to hurt by letting you know he was here and then he would just have to leave."

"I know that he has been through a lot lately, but at least I thought he would have told me he was coming out here." Angela said.

Steve may have not liked Angela Steele that much but he did feel bad as he watched her feel hurt by how she was by Li telling her that he wasn't sure if he was going to stay. For years he watched those two play games with each other on their own feelings; and he was really sick and tired of it.

Personally he would have loved to hit Li for what he said, which also made him decide to go against how he felt and say something, "You do know how hard it is for him to be out here right now, don't you? It wasn't that long ago that he watched the people he loved and cared about die as he stood there and couldn't do a damn thing about it. I am sure being out here is tough for him too, and that as much as I am sure he is happy to see you; I don't think he wants you to be too close because he might be afraid to lose you too."

Angela opened her mouth to say something but was interrupted by the sound of the young man with the band singing his song, at first she was about to pay it no mind but she couldn't as she heard the man's voice begin to sing in a foreign language that she immediately recognized as Japanese:

_Suki Desu Suki Desu Kokoro kara, aishite imasuyoto, amai kotoba no urani ha hitori garashino samishisa ga atta…._

Steve slowly turned around to face the band as he heard those words being sung, he remembered what Nick had told him about the incident at the beach with Amika and how that there was a Japanese song being sung before the creature attacked them. He looked around the center of the mall and saw that there were groups of people surrounding the band listening to the song that he was singing. He slowly looked back towards the three women who were with him and felt his heart beating fast as he knew that they were now in the middle of something bad.

"Steve, are you okay?" Mishelle asked immediately knowing that something was not right with her friend.

Before Steve could react, the sounds of people screaming filled the mall, the people inside started to panic and run in different directions, he tried to see what exactly was going on, but he found himself being thrown back by a brown and white blur hitting him from behind and landing near the JC Penny's entrance. A little dazed and confused he could not tell what really was going on, but he knew that he was definitely needed in this situation.

With a flick of his wrist he pulled out his Aurachanger and prepared to activate it, he was nervous and with every right to be but he put that aside since he knew that he was chosen to do this and screamed, "Kiryoku Tenshin!"

Mishelle stood in front of Angela and Lola, not sure what she was going to do but she knew that she had to find a way to help get as many people out of the mall as quick as possible.

"Angela!" Mishelle screamed, "You and Lola help get as many people as you can out of here before that thing tries to get anyone else!"

"What about you?!" Angela asked, knowing where this was all going.

"I'm trying to buy you some time to do your job!" Mishelle said grabbing a metal pole and heading towards where the people were screaming.

Angela and Lola immediately rushed towards a small group of children huddled in a corner crying for their parents to come for them. They did not see anyone rushing towards them to help, but knew that they had to protect them as long as they could.

Lola grabbed one of the children who was crying uncontrollably and did her best to soothe them while they looked for a way to escape from the mall, "How far are we from the car?"

Angela screamed, "We can't put all these kids in the car, we got find someplace safe until help arrives."

"But what about that thing?" Lola asked.

"We have no choice we got to head somewhere before…" Angela started but was stopped midsentence as she felt the air escape from her lungs and her body being lifted off the ground. She took a look back and saw that the tentacle had grabbed her. She took a look back and saw another tentacle nearby, but this one had an opening at the end of it, with sharp razor teeth. She tried to break free before this thing would try to kill her; she struggled and screamed, doing her best to fight back, but it was not having any effect. She closed her eyes hoping that her death would be quick, but instead of being pulled in, she felt herself being dropped onto the ground.

"Ang, are you all right?" Lola asked checking on her friend.

"Yeah, what just happened?" Angela asked when she saw Lola pointing to two figures standing in front of them, a man and a woman.

Both figures wore helmets which had different symbols on them. The one in the pink had what looked like a firebird on the front, while the one in the yellow had what appeared to be a Kirin. They both wore white vests with gold trim but pink one had a skirt that continued with hers, and each had a symbol on their left breast which was a circle with a line split vertically in the middle with five colors on one half, and on the other what appeared to be a "D".

"You are not going any further!" The yellow figure said.

"I can't believe it." The band member said transforming back into his human guise of Dansaku and looked excited at the fact that these two people were confronting him, "Well I have always wanted to go up against Dai Warriors."

"Then this is definitely your lucky day!" Another warrior dressed in blue with the same kind of costume as the yellow and pink fighters appeared with some type of pistol in his hand pointed at Dansaku.

"Kirin, I want you to take that group of people to safety while we deal with this guy." The pink one said to the yellow before she summoned forth a weapon that looked like a bo-staff and charged after the Gorma with the blue one following; leaving the Yellow one to take the other two to safety.

"You got it!" The yellow one, Kirin said as he helped Angela up and motioned for her, Lola and the children to follow him.


End file.
